be you

BE YOU – THE WHOLE TRUTH – LUKE TULLOS

by aileen on December 15, 2010

The BE YOU interview appears every Thursday in the Times of Acadiana.

Luke Tullos

The first thing that strikes you about Luke is how dapper he is. He is always impeccably dressed and oozes gentleman vibes. He is newly hired lead mixologist at Trynd, a restaurant and boutique lounge (opening downtown in Jan ’11) Recently engaged to Jessica Reeves he is creating a bright future for himself. Luke is a barman of the best kind, with a dedication to educate the general public in the possibilities that lurk behind the bar. He makes you not only want to buy a drink, but hang out at the bar and learn a thing or two.

What was your first job?
I worked at Dairy Queen, it was horrible. It taught what i didn’t want to do

Describe a typical day in your life.
i don’t have a typical day, every day is different, it will usually entail research and mixing drinks.

What advice would you give the younger you?
Be open minded.

What event in your life most shaped who you are now?
Leaving the church, I was really involved well into high school and leaving really opened my eyes to a lot of things.

What values do you live by?
Love as much as possible

What do you most appreciate?
Good friends. Good drinks

What is your favorite journey?
I love to move forward

Where is your favorite place to be alone?
In the shower. it’s where i get most of my ideas.

What living figure most inspires you?
My baby sister, she had the most unique mind i’ve ever experienced. She is pure creativity

What was the best advice you were ever given?
Just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you should be doing it.

What book would you tell everyone to read?
Boozehound – On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits,
by Jason Wilson. – its a great view into somebody who is passionate about what they do

What is the best thing about where you live?
My fiancé and all the people I love are around me.

How do you “let the good times roll” ?
Good people. Good booze.

What did u want to be when you grew up?
A preacher. I’ve always loved people. I love inspiring people. I love education.

What is your motto?
Love as much as possible

How would you like to be remembered?
As a genuinely good guy.

What do you say to yourself when you doubt yourself?
There’s nothing you can’t do.

What three things are vital to BEing YOU?
The people i love, alcohol and ice.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Awesome. I use it so much it’s really bad. And um, Iuse umm a lot.

What is your favorite word?
Delicious or the yummy sound

What do you collect?
Dollar bills and antique bar wear

What food could you live on for a month?
Hot dogs

What would you change about yourself?
I would be more observant .

What literary, movie or cartoon character do you most identify with?
Max Fischer from Rushmore.

Describe yourself in five words.
Devastatingly handsome, friendly bar professional

What is your idea of happiness?
My life. I’m very happy with my life.

What is your favorite movie?
Bottle Rocket – with Luke and Owen Wilson

What music defines who you are?
Jazzy rock

What do you most regret?
Nothing, everything shapes who you are

What question do you wish I’d asked?
i didn’t think of that, i just promised myself i would answer everything you asked me.

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A busy week… lets work it out.

by aileen on December 6, 2010

This week is one of ‘those’ weeks. One where I have what seems like a million things to do. I’m still playing catch up from last week and it would be easy to sit here and feel overwhelmed. I confess by the end of last week I did feel that way, but today I have a schedule. I have it all planned out. I know what I am meant to be doing and when.

I know today won’t go as I have planned, they never do – and life would be very dull if they did – but having a plan enables you to think about one thing at once, and get it done (or at least further towards done).

Sometimes we look at our ‘to do’ lists and there are just too many things on them, we spend precious time just worrying about how we will fit everything in. Grab a calendar instead and block out times to work on the different things we have to do. Guess how long they will take, once we sit down, focused, most things take less time than we thought.

Today I have a plan, I know what I must get done, what I should work on, and what I want to do. There has to be a balance. Some of the things you want to do should always be included. Life has to be fun, you have to get to BE YOU. Consider moving some of the things that you think are ‘extras’ into the ‘must’ category. This week working out is in the ‘must’ column. I know that will make me more productive, more focused and have more energy in the long run. It’s an essential. It’s just as important as any project. Too often we skip the things that are best for us because we think there are more urgent things. Nothing is more important than your health – it is the key to everything.

So have a great week, I have an appointment in the gym now.

Aileen.

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BE YOU- THE WHOLE TRUTH – John Herrera

by aileen on December 3, 2010

John Herrera

John is the owner of JuuJ Coiffure on Kaliste Saloom. He is one of the coolest people you will ever meet, and I’m not just saying that because he often has scissors just inches from my throat. He is one of those people who is doing exactly what they are meant to be doing, and I love people like that. John manages to combine a mischievous grin with a total air of calm. He is professional but never predictable and that makes me smile.

What was your first job?
My first job was at Baskin Robbins as a senior in high school. I can make a mean banana split.

Describe a typical day in your life.
I usually start with a 5:30 WOD at CrossFit Lafayette. Then I take my daughter to school for 7:30. I get to my salon by 10 AM and take anywhere from 8-12 clients till about 7 or 7:30 PM. I’m home just in time to hang out with my wife and 3 kids for about an hour, then we say prayers and tuck the kids in around 8:30 or 9. I try to get to bed before 10:30 so I can wake up and do it all again.

What advice would you give the younger you?
Live like you were dying.

What values do you live by?
Family, balance, passion,

What living figure most inspires you?
My wife. She challenges me to live “eternity-minded.”

What was the best advice you were ever given?
“Know when to hold ‘em, Know when to fold ‘em, Know when to walk away, Know when to run” Kenny Rogers.

What book would you tell everyone to read?
Power of a Praying Husband, Wife, etc. by Stormie Omartian

What is the best thing about where you live?
Hospitality.

How do you “let the good times roll”?
Cow tipping.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a surf shop owner.

What is your motto?
Right is right, even if no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it.

How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who made a difference in at least one person’s life.

What do you say to yourself when you doubt yourself?
Just keep swimming! Picture Dory on Finding Nemo.

What three things are vital to being you?
Music, Laughter, and Ambition.

Which words or phrases do most overuse?
Seriously…I use it as a question, a statement, and an exclamation. Seriously? Seriously. Seriously!
and Ridonkulous.

What is your favorite word?
JuuJ. The proper spelling is tzsuj; it’s a Yiddish verb that means to tweak, finesse, or make better. It’s also the name of my salon, JuuJ Coiffure.

What do you collect?
I would like to have a watch collection someday, but I have too many mouths to feed at home.

What food could you live on for a month?
Mexican, but the kind you get from any place in California with ‘bertos in the name-Alberto’s, Filberto’s, Roberto’s, etc.

What would you change about yourself?
I probably would get rid of my tattoos. I’d be bringing wholesome back.

Describe yourself in five words.
Blessed, amicable, independent, optimistic, fun-loving.

What is your idea of happiness?
Spending time with my children.

What is your favorite movie?
Pulp Fiction, one of the best quotable movies EVER.

What music defines who you are?
I’m a huge fan of DMB, but I grew up on punk rock and reggae.

What do you most regret?
I regret some of the things I did in my life, but what I regret most are the things I did NOT do.

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A CHALLENGE (or two)

by aileen on December 1, 2010

I know it’s only December 1st – but it’s a great time to get a head start on those New Years Resolutions…

Challenge 1

By reading on you are agreeing to accept at least one of these challenges (us writers are tricky like that). I am going to be doing it right along with you

I challenge you to pick one of your new year resolutions and start it today. Think how good it will feel to celebrate Christmas and already be fitter, or slimmer, play the piano better, start using Facebook more, give up cupcakes, stop smoking, start taking singing lessons or whatever it is you are planning to start next year.

Whatever you are going to do use December as a ‘practice month.’ Practice is great — there is no pressure to be perfect, you can’t fail, and whatever you do, you are ahead. You will also have proved to yourself that you can do it, and that’s going to feel great on New Year’s Eve. Whatever you do is lagniappe. Extra. A bonus. A slip or two doesn’t matter because it’s only a practice month.

I am going to get back into my exercise routine. I have let it slip a bit lately and need to get refocused. There now you all know, you can all hold me accountable. It’s here in black and white. It helps if people know, share what you are doing with your family, with your co-workers or you can email me and tell me. You are not in this alone. We are all practicing together.

The only rule is you are not allowed to give up, this is a rehearsal. You can have slip-ups and bad days but you are just practicing, you just get back on track and practice some more.

Challenge 2

Find at least one thing you want for Christmas that isn’t materialistic and encourage your children to do the same. It’s only one thing on your list but it may turn out to be the most important thing. Something you want to do, or learn, or experience. If each member of your family came up with one thing imagine the fun you would have together helping them get what they wanted. Would you like game night at your house, a walk in the park on Christmas day, a family photo album, homemade decorations, to start a new tradition, a once a month dinner club with friends. Pick something and put it on your Christmas list.

Challenge 3

Yes I know I mentioned only two challenges, but while I’m on a roll I may as well push my luck. Think of something you want to do next year, just for fun and make some plans. I want to go paddleboarding. You know, where you stand up on a surfboardy looking thing and paddle. I am already excited. I’m thinking spring in Florida. Find something that makes you smile and plan to do it.

Yes I know it’s only the beginning of December but there is only one time to start living your life, and that’s now.

This article appeared in my column “That’s what she said” in The Advertiser on 30th November 2010

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BE YOU – THE WHOLE TRUTH – Terry Butts

by aileen on November 26, 2010

Terry Butts

Love him or hate him, you know when you meet Terry Butts. He is larger than life, highly motivated, and he doesn’t care who knows it. In the last few months he has taken part in 136 mile kayak race, completed the Everest Challenge, the hardest 2 day USA Cycling race (over 29,000 feet of climbing) and is currently training for the Rouge Orleans, a 126 mile run. A former special operations marine, Terry does all of this while running four businesses, and planning others. He doesn’t just walk his talk, he runs it while carrying others. You may be surprised by some of his answers.

What was your first job?
i had my own little business shoveling snow and raking leaves. I was in the 5th grade. 10 years old

Describe a typical day in your life.
My alarm goes off at 3.45, coffee,out the door by 4.30. I teach my first class at SEPI at 5am. Then I run 8-14 miles or workout. Then the day is either working with personal training clients, being at Tri-Running, Lake Charles (the new store), working on schedules for online clients, or training high school and college athletes in sports performance. I love it all.

What advice would you give the younger you?
l would tell him, your life is gonna be unbelievable.

What event in your life most shaped who you are now?
The birth of my children. Joining the Marines.

What values do you live by?
Christian values.

What do you most appreciate?
The unconditional love of my family.

What is your favorite journey?
I would like to take a year off, homeschool my children and travel the country in an RV to show my children what an awesome country they live in.

Where is your favorite place to be alone?
On my bicycle, on a long ride.

What living figure most inspires you?
I am continually inspired by our wounded military, who despite their injuries and disabilities, continue to push themselves to live great lives and who continue to be an example for us all.

What was the best advice you were ever given?
BE YOU.

What book would you tell everyone to read?
The Bible

What is the best thing about where you live?
I can jump on my bike and go for a ride.

How do you “let the good times roll” ?
Being with my family and friends.

How would you like to be remembered?
Driven, honest, inspirational, a great father, a great husband, and a great friend.

What do you say to yourself when you doubt yourself?
I don’t doubt myself.

What three things are vital to BEing YOU?
Coffee, discipline and motivation.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“Wow” and “Take all the time you need, just hurry the hell up” – I say it to my clients all the time.

What is your favorite word?
Daddy

What do you collect?
Experiences.

What food could you live on for a month?
Ice-cream.

What literary, movie or cartoon character do you most identify with?
Johnny Bravo

What is your idea of happiness?
Helping people change their lives.

What is your favorite movie?
Without Limits – the story of Steve Prefontaine.

What music defines who you are?
I grew up surrounded by country music, but these days everything has it’s place.

What do you most regret?
Not graduating from college because there are people who judge you by that piece of paper – it’s not really a regret but a limiting factor.

What question do you wish I’d asked?
These were more than enough

The BE YOU questionnaire by Aileen appears in The Times of Acadiana every Thursday.

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There is no prize.

by aileen on November 25, 2010

I saw this on my friend, Angie Hargett’s facebook page and just had to share it.. inspirational words.

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Do something..

by aileen on November 24, 2010

I don’t know how I missed it but last Wednesday was Guinness World Records Day. All over the world people attempted strange things in order to hold a world record. A 90 year old man in England became the oldest man to wing-walk, in Germany they broke the record for the most nationalities in a sauna, and in the USA they gathered together the most dogs in costumed attire. Records were also created for juggling (both underwater and on land), catching arrows, making mosaics from rice, standing on one leg and of course I can’t forget the new record for the most stairs climbed while balancing someone on your head or most concrete blocks broken while holding a raw egg.

People all over the world are wonderfully strange. I haven’t met any of these people, and although I would love to sit down with them and find out what makes them do these things, I know one thing for sure. That each one of them went home happy that night.

You only have to spend a few minutes on Facebook to see people’s accomplishments. There are photos or status updates that show people at 5 and 10k races, winning honors, playing in sports teams, passing tests, and generally sharing their news. It is human nature to strive for more. I’m always proud when I see one of my friends achieve something. It pushes me to want to do it too.

In the early 1920’s when George Mallory set out to attempt to climb Everest he was asked why, and he simply answered “because it’s there.” He didn’t make it but his quote has become “the most famous three words in mountaineering” and applicable to so many things we do in our lives even today.

We are human, we strive to be better. It’s easy at the moment to be discouraged. Ten minutes listening to the news, or dwelling on all the negativity around us and we can start to wonder. I know everything will be fine. Better than fine. While people are still pushing their own comfort zones, while we are attempting new records and trying new things we will all be just fine. If you ever doubt that, just go and check Facebook. Or even better find something that you want to achieve and start working on it. You don’t have to climb Everest, just take a few steps in a direction you want to go in. You will feel more alive and more positive.

If you followed last week’s advice and surrounded yourself with positive people then this should be easy. If not, do it now. Find those that are pushing themselves and join in. It’s never too late to start.

As we get to Thanksgiving we start thinking about Christmas and tend to plan a lot of the next month away, don’t put this off until next year. Don’t tell yourself you’ll make it your New Years Resolution. Do something, and do it now.

You don’t have to break a record, just expand your comfort zone.

This article appeared in my column “That’s what she said” in The Advertiser on 23rd November 2010

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Technology Tuesday… square

by aileen on November 23, 2010

I love square.

It’s a great way of accepting credit cards on your iphone and ipad.

You sign up for an account and they send you a little cute white square thingy that plugs into your microphone jack. You can then swipe credit cards straight into your device (I believe it works with droid too).

It saves me having to jump through hoops to get a merchant account and the fees that brings. It’s like paypay, they take a %, for me, its worth it. Every sale that I would have lost if I couldn’t take credit cards makes me smile.

So far it has worked seemlessly, the client signs on screen and enters their email address to get a reciept. Simple and secure.. and beautifully designed. I’m a fan.

This review is purely my opinion. I was not paid for it, nor do I have an affiliate relationship with the company (although I would jump at the chance)

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The best advice I was ever given…

by aileen on November 22, 2010

(about speaking)

Your speech doesn’t begin with the first words you say, it starts way before that.
The moment you are in sight of a member of your audience your speech has started, whether that be when you enter the building, when you get out of your car, when someone meets you at the airport or the day before when the conference begins.

You should look and sound confident the whole time, not just when you are on stage. If you have sat at breakfast looking nervous and scanning your notes, you have already made an impression on someone. If you sit through the speakers before you but ignore them, and reread your speech, you are not only missing out on some great stuff that you could be referencing, but you are giving an impression to the other speakers that you don”t care about them, and telling your audience that you are not prepared.
If your audience knows that you are confident they can relax and listen to you.

You may have already guessed that I believe that your speech doesn’t end until you leave the venue. Be confident, BE YOU.

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BE YOU – THE WHOLE TRUTH – Tracy Wirtz

by aileen on November 19, 2010

Tracy Wirtz

Tracy is the co-anchor of Good Morning Acadiana, on and off screen she oozes good vibes and is usually wearing a huge smile.
Tracy is one of those people who is so herself that she relaxes those around her. What you get is what you see, and in Tracy’s case what you see is a woman with a big heart and her priorities in order.

What was your first job?
A babysitter. I was 13 and I was awful at it… after that I fried chicken.

Describe a typical day in your life.
I get up at 1.45am and am in the office by 3.15. Yes, I do my own hair and make-up. Then I get wired up (with a microphone) and smile a lot

What advice would you give the younger you?
I would say two things – Be gentle with yourself. Recognize the speed bump between your brain and your mouth.

What event in your life most shaped who you are now?
There are so many, of course the births of my children, but it’s really about paying attention to all the moments, they add up.

What values do you live by?
Every single person has a purpose, a reason for being in your life. Nothing ever happens by accident.

What do you most appreciate?
Time – without it, you have nothing.

What is your favorite journey?
Work to home, and home to work. My ramp up and my decompression time.
The journey to 40. I’m so much more comfortable in my 40 year old skin than I was in my 20 year old skin.

Where is your favorite place to be alone?
In my bed at home, or in the bathroom at work (it’s my dressing room)

What living figure most inspires you?
My mother, she inspires me to this day, she’s 64 and she doesn’t stop, she amazes me.
My Grand Daughter – when I look at her I see hope, the future.

What was the best advice you were ever given?
BE YOU! Early in my career I tried to emulate people, I was told to find out who I was and be that person. I have to be me.

What book would you tell everyone to read?
Using People by Aileen Bennett (of course).. and I would tell them to read fiction. Other peoples imaginations fascinate me, it’s a real escape.

What is the best thing about where you live?
That even before I was on TV, everybody knew who I was.

How do you “let the good times roll” ?
With a remote control and a DVR

How would you like to be remembered?
As somebody who make people happy. There are not enough people like that in the world.

What do you say to yourself when you doubt yourself?
I’m very hard on myself, I’m very mean to myself. I don’t talk myself out of a bad time – I just keep going.

What three things are vital to BEing YOU?
My children. My job. My sense of humor.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“Awesome”, “Dude”

What is your favorite word?
Serendipity. I just love saying it, what it means, everything about it.

What food could you live on for a month?
Steak

What literary, movie or cartoon character do you most identify with?
Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink

What is your idea of happiness?
Peace. For me, for my family. Oh, and lots of smiles.

What is your favorite movie?
Pretty in Pink.

What music defines who you are?
I love country music, but I listen to whatever strikes me. My music reflects my mood.

What questions do you wish I’d asked?
What things do you DVR, my DVR is stacked. Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, Cop Shows and of course, Swamp People.

The BE YOU questionnaire by Aileen appears in The Times of Acadiana every Thursday.

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